Diary – James Losh – 29 Oct 1830

A public meeting of the inhabitants of Hexham in order to forward a petiton for the abolition of slavery had been fixed at 10 o'c this morning in order to suit my convenience.   I therefore attended and proposed the first Resolution, in a short but, I think, clear and well arranged speech.   The hour being very inconvenient to the shopkeepers and workmen of all kinds, the meeting, tho' respectable, was by no means numerous, which prevented me from speaking fully or with much animation.   I had considered the subject with some care and had the meeting been large I should have endeavoured at least to point out both the evils of, and the remedies for, the present miserable condition of the slave holders, as well as of the slaves, in the West Indies.